Section 21 – to serve or not to serve?

Hi!
Now for those of you that are not familiar with a Section 21 – this is a “notice requiring possession” – please note the “requiring” which I will go through in a little more details a little later on……
A Sec 21, is you as the landlord issuing 2 months notice for your tenant to vacate the property. This is the most common Section as it is a “no fault” notice you can issue this for no reason other than you wish to regain possession of the property and is the easiest Section in which to gain possession of your property.
Most agents will issue this when your tenant falls into arrears or for other breeches of tenancy. However, that could then result in 2 more months of arrears, or issues and invariably more stress/lost revenue for you. So we issue this as soon as the deposit is registered and all guidelines surrounding the localism bill have been met, to expire at the end of the fixed period, or break clause in a 12 month tenancy. This means that should we see any issues arising in the first 6 months, we can then enforce the Sec 21 at the end of the fixed period.
The Sec 21 has to be reissued with every fixed tenancy. This is the main reason why Ezytrac do not regrant fixed tenancies at the expiration of the previous one, leaving the tenancy to go onto a Statutory Periodic Tenancy, however if a tenant and landlord agree that they both wish for the tenancy to proceed on another fixed term then of course we oblige. The Section 21 is valid for the life of the tenancy so even 3 years down the line, the Sec 21 is still in place and ready to be enforced should the need arise.
Notice Requiring possession – As per my initial paragraph, I promised to go into the “required” bit in more detail. So, it does what it says on the tin, this notice requires possession, it does not guarantee it. Should the tenant not leave at the expiration or before, we can immediately start possession proceedings through the courts. I have not had many tenants that have not left on or before the expiration, but the odd few have decided to stay on – eg if they are applying for a local authority house, then the local authority will advise them to stay until the court proceedings start!
Acting on the Sec 21 also means, that it will be unlikely we can actively market your property during the notice period. This does not go down too well with the tenant that has been asked to leave! So this is another consideration of acting upon the notice – if we can get possession quickly and as peacefully as possible for both parties , then that’s always the best option!
If you have any questions about this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact Ezytrac PM team on (0044) 01522 503 717

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Arlene didn't start in property, she worked for the likes of Marks and Spencer, Harrods and her own consulting business in Food Technology. In 2009 she took over the chair of Ezytrac Property Group and has overseen its growth since then.
Arlene conceived the famous 'Effortless Property' mantra and has been a big proponent of the constant push towards its achievement.
Arlene is married to Brett, a fellow property expert and they have 4 kids.